The Resume

(March 23, 1900-March 18, 1980)
Born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Psychoanalyst and humanistic philosopher
Wrote 'Escape from Freedom' (1941), 'Man for Himself' (1947), 'The Sane Society' (1955), 'The Art of Loving' (1956), 'May Man Prevail?' (1961), 'Socialist Humanism' (1965), 'The Nature of Man' (1968) and 'To Have Or To Be?' (1973)
Postulated that people had five basic needs:
1. Relatedness: Relationships with others
2. Transcendence: Creativity, developing an interesting and loving life
3. Rootedness: a sense of belonging
4. Sense of Identity: seeing oneself as a unique person and as part of a social group
5. Frame of Orientation: an understanding of the world and one's place in it

Why he might be annoying:

While married to his first wife, he had an affair with fellow psychologist Karen Horney.
A colleague of Horney said, 'He took her ideas and used them.'
Herbert Marcuse said he was a radical theorist who turned conformist.
He considered his ideas a synthesis of Sigmund Freud and Karl Marx.
He claimed, 'A healthy economy is possible only at the expense of unhealthy human beings.'

Why he might not be annoying:

He fled Nazi Germany for the US.
He rejected Soviet Communism as dehumanizing.
He wrote, 'Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence.'

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• Adam and the Ants' 'Friends' References
• Brothers and Sisters, I Have None
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 23]
• I Attended Heidelberg University
• I Died in 1980 (Ranked: 79)
• I Earned a Doctorate
• I Love Older Women
• Look at Me, I've Been Caught Smoking
• My Spouse is at Least Ten Years Older than Me
• Philosophers: 20th Century [1900-2000]
• Profiles 26751-27000 (Ranked: 26884)
• Psychologists
• UK Guardian's John Armstrong's Top 10 Books on Love (Ranked: 9)
• We Died on the Same Day (Ranked: 19800318)

Year In Review:

In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 10 Votes: 90.0% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 13 Votes: 53.85% Annoying
In 2016, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2015, Out of 24 Votes: 54.17% Annoying
In 2014, Out of 15 Votes: 53.33% Annoying
In 2013, Out of 17 Votes: 52.94% Annoying
In 2012, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2011, Out of 29 Votes: 68.97% Annoying
In 2010, Out of 22 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
In 2009, Out of 13 Votes: 61.54% Annoying